Be careful how much we hammer Scottish football into the gutter.. We might never climb out again..
SAYS MALKY MACKAY
SFA performance director Malky Mackay has looked with pride in recent weeks at the manner in which British society has united against tragedy.
He yearns for the day the Scottish football community can also pull together and contribute to players and supporters feeling a little better about their lot.
Mackay isn’t crass enough to relate acts of terror to the terraces of the Premiership or the horrors of Grenfell to grassroots improvement of the national sport.
However, he has acknowledged the power of the country’s most popular pastime to create a feelgood factor that stretches well beyond 90 minutes on a Saturday afternoon.
Mackay is overseeing the introduction of Project Brave which, in terms of Scottish challenges, is up there with clearing the Cairngorms of snow in winter using a soft toothbrush.
He’s making good headway he insists, backed by Scottish clubs who are determined to deliver the best pathway possible for young players to progress to the highest level.
Still there is much work to do, not least as MSPs debate a flawed system that has allowed several clubs in recent years to offer youngsters less than the national minimum wage.
It’s an appalling abuse of power that the Children’s Commissioner reckons should lead to government enforcing legislation which could yet put Hampden on a collision course with FIFA.
Mackay’s stance on that issue is less than convincing, with a barbed dig at Jim McLean, but he does believe recent events on and off the park have underlined the importance of football to the nation’s sense of well-being.
He said: “Things are getting better – cast your mind back two decades ago to 10-year contracts given out by top managers at leading clubs. It was five-year contracts with five-year extensions and players on peanuts – you know who I’m talking about.
“Things are constantly changing and evolving. Scottish football constantly takes a hammering from pundits, MSPs, media or someone looking for five minutes of fame. We’ve got to watch how much we hammer Scottish football into the gutter. Will it climb back out again?
“I look at the last couple of months and the bad news and the tragedies and they have galvanised the British public.
“Sport galvanises Scotland. The Commonwealth Games galvanised the country, our Scottish Cup Final and semifinals did too and so especially did the recent Scotland-England game.
“I would defy any Scot – whether they’re a Leigh Griffiths fan or not – to say they didn’t jump off their feet when he scored that second goal.
“I listened to Martin Tyler’s commentary and couldn’t believe he was going bananas when the second went in. The roof was off the stadium, Gary Neville was talking about the best atmosphere he had ever been in, Harry Kane was talking about the stadium.
“Let’s consider also the work Brendan Rodgers has done at Celtic in the last year and even Rangers in the last week have popped that little story out the blue that fans can now buy their strip again and you can be damn sure 45,000 will do so. They are also funding their new manager to have a go this season.
“Stewart Regan and Andrew McKinlay of the SFA have been up defending Scottish football in parliament and rightly so. I have been going round the clubs and there are a lot of good people trying to do a lot of good work to make Scottish football better.”
Mackay was at the Oriam in Edinburgh yesterday hosting a mentoring session for up-and-coming coaches, with a two-day session focused on the art of defending overseen by Burnley boss Sean Dyche, ex-Swindon gaffer Fabrizio Piccareta and Dick Bate, former FA elite coaching manager.
It’s a key part of Mackay’s role but since taking charge six months ago he has been lobbying hard for Project Brave, which is attempting to overhaul youth development for a Scottish game that hasn’t qualified for a major tournament since France 98.
Mackay has been forced to fend off accusations of a revolt among the clubs outwith the top five – Celtic, Aberdeen, Rangers, Hearts and Hibs – who are worried about the criteria to qualify for elite academy status and the funding that goes with it.
Up to 16 clubs can qualify for elite status and he said: “It is going to be tough to meet parts of the criteria and there are other parts that are common sense. But
we’ve been out to the clubs and had those initial talks about where they think they are.
“We’ve listened to the clubs. If there’s a particular issue that comes from every one of them, then we’re not going to be bloody-minded enough to say that’s just the way it is.
“There’s been a conversation about a coming and going but ultimately the performance department at the SFA must see there is a standard everyone must meet in order to get better.
“Ultimately, we have to raise standards. I don’t think anyone would disagree. We need more full-time coaches and we need better facilities. If you get the two then eventually you get better players.”
Stark financial realities are forcing more Scottish clubs to dip into their youth ranks and Mackay points to a recent third-place finish for the Under-20s in the Toulon tournament as evidence of progress among others. He said: “Three of my best players in Toulon have also been playing in Kilmarnock’s first team this year. They played against Brazil and ended up third in the tournament because they’ve been getting the chance to play against men at first-team level. “It’s nice for the 19 to 21-year-olds who are reading every day in life that they are the broken generation. That everything is fine to under 17 then falls off a cliff. “Our Under-16s won a tournament a month or so into my tenure and for the first time in my lifetime our boys were technically better than Croatia. “That’s the first generation to have come through the performance schools with the double touches. Technically we are getting there.”